Should we cut * a little slack?

So Barry Bonds has tied Hank Aaron's all time home run record, and within the next few days will have the record all to himself. It's obvious that Barry isn't popular with everyone at the moment, but let's take his personality and demeanor out of the equation and look at the underlying issue. The real question is "Does he deserve an asterisk next to his record?" And what about the other players from this era? How exactly should they be considered in the historical perspective of the game?

After the complete disaster of the strike in 1994, baseball was in trouble. They needed to find a way to increase fan interest in the game, and revive the national pastime. Otherwise, the game was quickly on its way to being past its time. In addition to the complete devastation of the strike, and the loss of a World Series, there were other factors going against baseball as well. Baseball was losing its popularity... The new generation of kids had other interests... video games, skateboards, other extra-curricular activities, and even just plain old slacking in general. The new generation of parents did not have the time or patience to teach their kids the game, instead pushing them into soccer where it was easy to put them on the field and let them run. The skill and practice involved in learning how to hit, learning how to field a grounder, and learning how to throw a curveball were all gone. The intricacies of the game within the game were lost, replaced with the mentality of "kick the ball and chase it". In addition, no longer was there only three television channels, and everyone would talk about the game because that was the only thing that was on the T.V. Times were changing, and baseball needed to find a way to save its sport.

All of these factors lead baseball to turn a blind eye toward performance enhancers. It may not even have been intentional. They may not have considered how serious this topic could become in the future. But they did know that bigger, stronger players... and more home runs... would generate interest in the game. Barry is a product of the system, as are a good numbers of players from this era. These men are at the very top of one of the most competitive sports in the world. Their whole life they've been programmed to do what ever it takes to win, and that is what has driven them to be able to compete at this level. Now this is not an excuse to say that what they did was right, it is just an observation of why and how it happened. And since the powers controlling baseball did not explicitly make clear that performance enhancing drugs would be a major violation, there were no real repercussions to stop this from happening. Until congress became involved and forced baseball to review the drug policy, players had little to worry about. With the rules that were in place, performance enhancement drugs probably weren't considered much different than corking a bat, or throwing a spitball. Sure it was illegal, but it was considered more gamesmanship than cheating. Even when Mark McGwire was on his record setting pace, a bottle of Andro was found in his locker. There was nothing that could be done about it, because it wasn't illegal or against baseball's rules at the time. Can we apply rules retroactively, even in the court of public opinion? Do we convict all of these players because we suspect that they were cheating? Do we really put that much stock in Jose Canseco's book? And is that really the way anyone should be judged, on hearsay? Even now, is it fair to single out individual players without concrete proof? Is American justice based on that philosophy? Just because Sammy Sosa grew much bigger physically during his career, how is it fair that we label him a cheater without proof, or suggest he was cheating if he was only using supplements that were actually within the rules at the time? How can we just randomly assume people like Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens or Ichiro have not used enhancements simply because that is what we want to believe? There is absolutely no proof that any of these players have used any type of performance enhancers, but the same can also be said for many of the players who currently have that cloud hanging over their head.

For better or worse, all of these accomplishments were performed on the field, within the confines of the game, and were allowed to take place by the governing body of baseball. I understand that this can set a bad example for our children, but perhaps it can be an opportunity to actually discuss with them right and wrong, and the fact that people aren't perfect, just human. The real example can be set by baseball from this point onward and the way they fix the problem moving forward, not how they dwell on the errors of the past. Unfortunately in reality, sometimes cheaters do prosper. But if that means that we protect the rights of the innocent in the process, it is a trade off I can tolerate.

Congratulations Barry, but I would still rather share a cold one with Hank Aaron any day of the week.